Tennyson Lee

Congrats to my old friend Janie! Tennyson Lee was born 6/7/11 at 4:07 PM. 7 lbs, 5 ounces, 21" long

Best Friends

The best thing about our recent trip to Memphis was going to visit Anne Minter in Oxford and getting to have lunch with her at Ajax (YUM!) and seeing her house! When we were sophomores in HS, Anne Minter's mama passed away after a long battle with colon cancer and AM had to move to Mississippi with her daddy. I miss both of them every day, and consider myself so lucky that I've kept this friendship!

Swiggett!

Swiggett is my AOII Grand Big Sis-- she now lives in Bloomington and so I get to see her once a year since she's half an hour away from Josh and Sarah! Last year I only got to see her for a little bit at a Starbucks in Bloomington, but this year we got to sit and have dinner and her husband Thomas was able to come along! Unfortunately, Jeremy was tied up (almost literally) helping Josh re-wire the house. Here's me and Swiggett-- I love her so much!

Tradition

Alexandros (9 years), Jenn (10 years), Laura (26 years),

Zach (3 years), Me (13 years), Jeremy (2 years)

My friend Laura's (of Dia de la Muerta wedding fame) godparents have a Christmas Open House each year. I met them when I was in middle school when they lived in a small apartment and started going with Laura and our friend at the time Clare. I remember holing up in the little closet of a guest bedroom and reading books and playing board games with them. When they moved to Lilburn, we helped them move and set up their new home, which is where Kathleen lives today. It's where I met Alexandros, one of my closest friends, 9 years ago. It's where I learned how to crochet, and where I spent a lot of time. George passed away just over a year ago; he had a congenital heart defect and got an infection that did him in. I hadn't seen him in many years when he passed, and when I heard through FB that he had I went to the visitation. I'd seen Laura once or twice; we had a falling out in HS over something stupid and decided that since we couldn't remember what it was it wasn't worth ruining a friendship over. I saw Kathleen for the first time in years, and met Laura's now husband for the first time. I started going back to the Christmas party last year and couldn't be happier. It's been great to re-connect with old friends and have a good time before the holidays.

Thanksgiving Dinner

Thanksgiving Dinner was a hit this year and, as always, went off without a hitch! I know everyone has some exciting story about Thanksgiving, and I guess I do have one but it always slips my mind-- I'll throw that in after the pictures.

In addition to us, mom, David, and Casey, mom's friend Sharon and her son Alex came, as well as Michael and the kids and Emmy-- a fantastic crowd! We spent the day cleaning, cooking, and watching what ended up being a mini-Rourke marathon with Iron Man 2 and The Expendables. I cooked a sweet potato casserole (which everyone said was the best they'd ever had!), and did the turkey and stuffing/dressing, plus the cranberry sauce-- all of these were first time experiences for me and they all came out amazing!

Pictures, of course, for your viewing pleasure:

Belle perked up when she saw mom with ham

So we treated her-- it's Thanksgiving after all!

The tongs from the ham fell on the floor-- guilty much?

mom's pretty mantle. Even if the teensy lightshade is tippled...

Jeremy and Sharon work the logistics of getting the bird to the carving plate

VICTORY!

I carve the turkey!

Everyone waiting for dinner

Violet used my old records as weapons of mass distraction

"I can have some, yeeeeeesssss?"

FOOD! (without the sweet potato casserole, that was warming in the oven)

Pretty table

Violet instructs Uncle Jeremy on the finer points of what will eventually go in her belly

Michael's been beaten and Violet realizes that there's food on Aunt Meg's plate to steal now!

We shall see this mischievous look more than once in her life!

It was a great meal and great company, I'm so glad we all got to come together!

My fun Thanksgiving story, for posterity:

It was my first year at the airline and I was living in Memphis. I had to work the day after Thanksgiving, so I'd flown in to Atlanta a couple of days before and flew back on Thanksgiving day (fantastic day to travel, btw, business class was just me and another FA!). As the plane was taking off in Atlanta, I realized that I had not bought a turkey or even turkey breasts! When I landed, I called Amy to see if she knew of anywhere that would still be open and the only place we could think of was the Middle Eastern market so I went and got chicken breasts. We were having Jeremy and Ashley over for dinner, and I think Zac as well, and we'd been cooking up a storm when Ashley called to say she was there-- I went out to meet her and then Jeremy got there and I completely forgot about the chicken in the oven! It was sooo dried out it was nearly inedible, and we dug through the fridge and covered them with BBQ Sauce and Ashley opted for ketchup. It was still a great Thanksgiving, though!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Here's your list of things I'm thankful for this year-- how about you?

* My wonderful husband-- for doing the dishes and putting out a lot of heat since our heat is broken!

* A home-- it may not be a great apartment, but we do have our own place this year which is infinitely better than where we were a year ago!

* Wonderful neighbors-- John and Paige are so much fun and so nice to us, definitely an improvement over Jimmy... they even took us bouldering last weekend!

* A team worth rooting for-- keep up the good work, Thrashers!

* My staff-- they really do make my job easy. Yes, sometimes they're not perfect, but if they weren't so great then my stressful job would be even worse!

* A job-- I may hate my job, but I have one and that's worth a lot these days!

* Our godchildren-- Julian and Violet are crazy off the wall, but they're wonderful children who love us dearly and we love them, too!

* All of our amazing friends and family who have made our (almost) first year of marriage so fantastic.

Until later this week when I pull the pictures off the camera, I wish you all a wonderful rest of Thanksgiving and a joyous start to the holiday season!

Wonderful day

Our weather here was perfect today and I couldn't have been happier-- we had our first "people over" party today and it ROCKED.

Menu:

Chicken (Drumsticks)

Pomegranate Syrup Glazed Leg of Lamb

Hot Rub Ribs (a la Central BBQ)

Garlic Honey Hamburgers

Wasabi Mashed Potatoes

Grilled Corn on the Cob

Chips and Salsa

Ciabatta Bread with Olive Oil

Bacon Macaroni and Cheese

Green Bean Casserole (Paige)

Mediterranean Salad (Michael)

Brownies

Apple Crisp

Sangria

Pinot Grigio

And more beer than you can shake a stick at

It was pretty great, even if it DID almost start by me being stupid and burning the tips of my fingers off with the meat thermometer probe... I have to get the pictures converted on Jeremy's computer since the camera was being ridiculous, but it was a great day filled with friends and food and great weather.

Congrats to Laura and Zach Baston!

Middle School us would TOTALLY laugh at Married us-- there may even be some shunning involved. We were SO COOL in MS/HS ;)

I know, not the best, but I don't have another picture of them where you can see them both! Congrats to Mr. and Mrs. Zachary Baston!

Le Baston le Baston hee hee hee haw haw haw...

My best friend's wedding!

From Girl Scouts to Married Ladies!

One of my nearest and dearest friends from childhood got married today! Jill Marie, I love you and I'm so honored I was invited to join you for your wedding! All our love and best wishes!

Welcome to AOII, Beta Zeta!!

This weekend we Installed our newly Colonized Chapter-- Beta Zeta at Kennesaw State University!

There were 99 ladies installed as a chapter, 97 initiated and 2 transfers, and it was a looooong and rewarding and exciting day! I have a few pictures here, but thanks to my budget on IC (Installation Committee) I got to pass off the photography duties to Caq!

Chandeliers in the Grand Ballroom

Kay tying bows around centerpieces

almost 100 roses!

A rose ever blooming will grow through the years

Roll Book

Charter!!

Charter with rose

Gift from Headqarters

Head table

SHOPPING! (too bad I was broke...)

Kay, Sherry, and Janet shopping the Emporium

Teri and Stacey

Jenny's on the right, she organized the whole thing!

Jenna and Stacey from HQ, this is their thing

Stacey and I-- we know all the same people!

Jenny checking people in

Barb Zipperian (IP), Brandi Nunnery (CDNS), and Aimee Meyers (CDND)

Lanterns inside the hotel

Me and Brandi-- she was my CNS in college!

I love AOII so much and am thankful every day that it's part of my life-- we have so many wonderful women and I'm so honored to have them all as sisters.

Memphis Bridal Shower

The bridal shower was a lot of fun, Jan and Fia did a really great job! Here are some pictures from the afternoon.

The cake, roses Jeremy picked out, and the cute little favor boxes Fia made

The cake was gorgeous!

I just love this because Fia looks like she's about to sass someone

Fia and Jan

punch, munchies, egg rolls, pinwheels, quiches, and fruits and veggies-- yum!

slicing the cake with Meghan's help-- we were sad it didn't taste as good as it looked!

Ignore the flash in the door... from L to R

Ashley, Meghan, Me, Suzy, and Fia

All in all, a good afternoon! The alumnae tea at Rhodes was also fun, I got to meet a couple of girls I know through facebook but hadn't met since they graduated long before I got there, and I got to see some people I hadn't seen in years!

This week is Halloween, though I STILL don't know what we're going to be! I thought today we could be Michael and Fi from Burn Notice, but it'd be good to have something that the kids might understand for the contest on Wednesday. And that wouldn't involve me being cold. Any suggestions?

Eeexhausted

We're in Memphis, the drive up was nice and uneventful, and we found out that the other interested party at the Solarium dropped the date so we have a place for the reception now!!

The English Dept. isn't doing a reception tomorrow, so all I have is the AOII tea which should be fun since there are so many people who will be there that I haven't seen in forever! On the down side, the bridal shower we all rushed to throw together only has FOUR PEOPLE coming. I'm really upset. I set it this weekend because people said they'd be able to come and now everyone's saying they can't make it. GARGH.

I guess that's really about all. I just got bored and wanted to say something. Keep your fingers crossed that more people RSVP for this stinking shower so that we're not all just staring at each other. *sigh*

Pictures! Yay!

I've got all my pictures up from last week-- all 103 of them! Thank goodness I got Flickr's Pro Account, I've taken so many more pictures since then! I also took a picture last week of my pepper plant-- it's gotten so much bigger!! I need to transplant it, and I just keep on forgetting... or walking outside and realizing how miserable it is. I know it's hot in other places, too, but we have gotten next to NO rain this summer and it is unrelenting!



Tonight, I went to Eats with the Kavanaugh's and Michael's sister and brother in law and niece. It was the first time I've ever been there, which is funny because all my friends in high school went all the time. That is exactly what I said to my mom before I walked out the door, and about a half hour before I ran in to... all the kids I hung out with in high school at Eats. I got to spend some time with the baby, which is always fun-- she's started laughing so much now, and thinks it's hilarious when I tap her nose and make a "boop" sound. It's pretty ridiculously adorable. Hopefully, Michael will put up pictures from last weekend soon enough because there was a really cute one of us making the same face at each other. I haven't had a picture with the baby in months, so I made Michael take a couple!

After dinner, we got his sister and her family settled at the Kavanaugh's and went to Meg's mother's house to hang out (they're staying there tonight) and chat. Turns out Nan's a big beader, so she's going to help me make the bridesmaids gifts for the wedding! I'm so excited!

Tomorrow is Julian's 3rd birthday, he's very excited, and he even got to talk to Jeremy on the phone tonight. We're going to Leapin' Lizards (which is full of moon bounce type stuff) and having pizza (which Sarah and I will pick up after moving her mattress and box springs in) and cake from Publix, so needless to say there will be *plenty* of pictures!

Ciao for now!

One of those days...

It's strange, I never really have those days where I sit down and look at my life and think, "Man, this isn't all that bad after all!" but today I kinda did. Work's been getting me down lately, as I'm sure you could tell, but I'm glad I had a good night tonight-- I could sit down and look at my photos from this weekend with a clear head and realize that I'm really lucky to have the life I do.

Living in Decatur is an absolute privilege, one I hope to give my child/ren some day, and one of the things its given me is access to a strong learning community and one that appreciates literature. Two of my favorite authors, Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child, came to the Decatur Public Library this weekend, and Jeremy got to go with me. They write popular novels, but are both very intelligent, very funny, and very witty. Their talk was great and then they signed books and took pictures!

This one's a little blurry, Jeremy was holding the camera weird, but from L to R is Lincoln Child, me, and Douglas Preston! I've been reading Preston's books since I was in middle school!!

After that, we walked around the square and looked at the artists booths, and we stopped in this great little shop called Taste on the back side of the square. LOVE that store so much. If you're local, you can get me a gift certificate there any time!! We poked around there a little extra because it started *pouring* down rain and we didn't have an umbrella, but Jeremy found some yummy chow chow to take back for his sandwiches and I found the most hilarious card to send to Shelby-- a print of Barack taking his presidential oath with the caption, "I, Barack Hussein Obama, do solemnly swear to turn this mother out."

We wandered back to the car, and since I hadn't been able to get in touch with Meg or Michael, I decided we'd "swing by" (shoulda known better!) before going home to take a nap. We got there and Michael was hanging out with Sarah (a girl Meg and I went to high school with, but I haven't seen in who knows how many years!) and trying to get Vi to sleep and Julian was running around... being Julian. He took to Jeremy like nobody's business (not surprising, kids LOVE Jeremy) and took him on the grand tour of Casa de Julian and the costumes in his closet and all his toys. We fed Julian Altoids to see his reaction and he actually liked them, then he attacked Michael like a wild man, then he decided he was going to play with Jeremy some more and continued to use him as a jungle gym. Meg and I decided he's going to be one of those grandads all the little ones use as a jungle gym whether he's actively participating or not. Then we walked up to dinner and met Meg's mom and her sister Della-- The Matador in Oakhurst was pretty decent, and not too expensive. It waited until we got inside to start raining and didn't rain on us on the way home.

Today, I went up to Apres Diem for lunch and to see Adam and Erin in from Seattle. There were, of course, tons of other people there for fantastic company and the food was to die for-- and totally one-upped Fresh Slices which is a little funny. Apres Diem is a chic type tapas place in Midtown Atlanta, and their sandwiches range from about $8-10. With these sandwiches come a side salad AND home fries, whereas at Fresh Slices you don't necissarily get fries, even! Anyway, I got to see Aihanh and Igal, and Greg was there with his new girlfriend, and Hetal and Hugh and some other Tech people I vaguely know. Erin was asking about where Jeremy and I would be when he was done with school and it turns out... they have a house they're trying to rent! It's a three bedroom, soon to be two bath, and while it's not in the bestest area ever, we could get it for about $900 a month! And since we'd know the landlords, we could probably do most anything we like to the house which would keep Jeremy busy and would be at least half funded so we could afford to do it! Yaaay!

So, uploading those pictures to Facebook and Flickr, I looked at my life and realized that there are some really amazing people in my life-- I have a fiancee I love and sometimes still can't believe, there are a couple of pretty cute kids who think I'm swell and I love them to death, I'm re-acquainting myself with friends from high school who are wonderful people, and I feel kind of like I'm a part of a big family here, which is what's so great about Decatur in the first place. We'll be a little farther away, about 20 minutes, if we're at Adam and Erin's place, but we'll still be ITP and we'll have room for folks to stay the night which they just might.

Memphis was where I lived for five years, and I think I almost forgot what home meant while I was there. Now, I'm remembering it and I couldn't be happier.

Ciao for now.